SOPHOMORE DEFENSIVE BACK DRU JONES’
70-YARD KICKOFF RETURN FOR THE FINAL SCORE.
BAILEY, BOWLING GREEN FORCE RUNNING CLOCK BEFORE HALFTIME
Twenty minutes after it was over, after the Bowling Green High School football team had retreated to its dressing room, junior Purples quarterback Deuce Bailey stood on the El Donaldson Stadium field and addressed what had happened in a matter-of-fact tone.
The Purples punished Louisville’s Fairdale High School, beating the Bulldogs at nearly every turn until they managed a couple cosmetic touchdowns in the second half.
Long after the issue had been settled.
Bowling Green dispatched Fairdale on Friday night, 51-14, to earn the 17th regional championship in school history and a home game in KHSAA Class 5A semifinal play next week against traditional rival Owensboro High School.
Bailey only played in the first half, for the third consecutive playoff victory, while BGHS freshman QB Embree Dotson took the snaps to complete the task at hand. The Purples improved to 10-3 overall, and they’re one victory away from returning to Lexington’s Kroger Field for a berth in the KHSAA Class 5A state championship game.
HAS THROWN 38 TD PASSES
WITH JUST FOUR INTERCEPTIONS.
SCORES ON A 17-YARD TD RUN
IN THE FIRST QUARTER.
SCORES ON A TWO-YARD TD RUN
TO MAKE IT 45-0 IN THE SECOND QUARTER.
“The intensity’s picking up,” Bailey said. “It’s win, or go home. You’ve got to come out with that mind-set. We’re moving the ball. It brings confidence to everyone … we know we’ve got guys who can make plays.”
No doubt about that.
The Purples bolted to a 24-0 lead after the first quarter and never looked back. Fairdale’s ground-oriented attack went nowhere in the first half. And Bailey had all the time he needed to pick apart the Bulldogs’ secondary, when the BGHS offensive line wasn’t overpowering its outmanned opponent at the line of scrimmage.
“I think it was important, how we started the game,” sixth-year BGHS head coach Mark Spader said when it was over. “Like the last couple weeks, we had really good practices over the course of the week, and our kids have been dialed in. I think that’s when we’re the most dangerous.
“Deuce is really good at distributing the ball. Our offense has been fun to watch, all year … our defense has grown. It’s a good recipe for playoff football.”
THREE TD PASSES IN THE FIRST HALF.
HAS BEEN A MODEL OF CONSISTENCY.
Throw in junior placekicker/punter Braden Widener, who has been remarkably consistent, and the other elements of the Purples’ special teams, and you’ve got a team anxious for another shot at the eighth state championship in school history.
When Fairdale scored its second touchdown, in the final two minutes of the game, the Bulldogs tried a pooch kick that was fielded cleanly by BGHS sophomore defensive back Dru Jones at the 30-yard line. Jones used a couple blocks to get into the open field, and then beat the Bulldogs pursuit down the middle of the field to score on a punctuating 70-yard kickoff return.
It was the game’s final play, because, well, enough already.
The Purples will now play on their home field for the sixth consecutive week, and they’ll practice on Thanksgiving Day before Owensboro arrives the next day for a Class 5A state semifinal. Bowling Green defeated the Red Devils, 17-7, to win its last state championship, during the topsy-turvy, COVID-19 interrupted 2020 season.
The Purples went back to Kroger Field last year, but Lexington’s Frederick Douglass High School unleashed a relentless defense to stop Bowling Green, 28-7, to claim the state title. Frederick Douglass has moved on to the KHSAA’s Class 6A ranks, so the winner of next Friday’s BGHS-Owensboro semifinal will be paired against an opponent from Metro Cincinnati, either Highlands (12-1) or Cooper (11-2) in the state championship game.
“We never want to take anything for granted,” BGHS coach Mark Spader said, “but it’s what we shoot for, every year … and we’ve got another home game. How about that?”
NEGOTIATES THE RIGHT SIDELINE …
ON A 17-YARD TD RUN IN THE FIRST QUARTER.
FOR BGHS FANS DURING THE POSTSEASON.
Bowling Green put this one out of reach early, with an efficient offense and a suffocating defense. The Purples’ defense forced a three-and-out on Fairdale’s first offensive series, and Deuce Bailey needed all of two plays to get Bowling Green in the end zone.
First, he found BGHS receiver Evan Tuck on the right sideline, for a 15-yard completion. Then he slipped a swing pass to teammate Trevy Barber, who weaved through the Bulldogs’ defense and scored on an 18-yard reception with 9:01 left in the first quarter.
BGHS linebacker Montez Trussell recovered a Fairdale fumble on the Bulldogs’ next possession, and three plays later, Jaxen Smith scored on a 17-yard run. The Purples’ special teams then foiled a fake punt play, which resulted in Braden Widener’s 40-yard field goal from the right hash with 5:43 left in the first quarter.
It was 17-0. Just like that.
Widener, a junior who is also a BGHS soccer standout, has now converted all 62 of his extra-point attempts, while going 6-for-8 on field goals.
THE END ZONE
SIX TIMES IN THE FIRST HALF …
NIFTY 17-YARD TD RECEPTION.
Bailey kept beating the Fairdale secondary with quick passes into the flat, but he changed gears in using his legs for the Purples’ third touchdown of the night.
Bailey scrambled to his right and weaved in between two or three defenders before skirting the right sideline to score on a 19-yard touchdown run with 3:43 left in the first quarter. At least two Fairdale defenders stopped in their pursuit of Bailey, perhaps guessing that he’d go out of bounds instead of diving for the goal line.
No such luck.
In the second quarter, BGHS receiver Evan Tuck made a circus grab on a high third-down pass in the back of the end zone, scoring on a 3-yard reception, and Bailey found BGHS sophomore tight end Ethan Kirkwood for a 1-yard TD pass with 8:54 left in the first half.
FOR A 2-YARD TD CATCH IN THE SECOND QUARTER.
AN EFFICIENT SQUAD IN THE RED ZONE.
That made it 38-0, and the impending semifinal matchup with Owensboro was taking definitive shape. The Purples’ Trey Graham scored on a 2-yard TD run with 3:07 left in the first half, and the Red Devils (9-4 overall) drubbed Louisville’s Atherton High School, 43-7, on Friday night in Louisville.
Bowling Green defeated Owensboro, 42-28, in Week Two of the regular season in August, but BGHS coach Mark Spader said the Red Devils are clearly a different team with three months of seasoning under their collective belt.
Likewise, the BGHS defense, which made plays, sideline to sideline, all night against the Bulldogs.
“I feel like we’ve really matured, as a defense,” BGHS linebacker Jayden Axson said. “We’ve come together, worked hard in practice, and we’ve really settled in these last couple games.
“We know what we’re capable of doing.”
The Purples will try to take the next step on Friday night.
HAD PLENTY OF ENERGY
THIRTY MINUTES AFTER IT WAS OVER …
TO OWENSBORO (9-4) NEXT WEEK
IN THE KHSAA CLASS 5A SEMIFINALS.
AND THE PURPLES CAPTAINS MEET WITH
THEIR FAIRDALE COUNTERPARTS BEFORE THE GAME.
THE HANG OF
FOOTBALL WEEKENDS …